Jack White Condemns Homophobic Incident At Show

White's gig in Edmonton, Canada last week saw two female fans told to stop kissing by a member of the venue's staff.

Jack White has reacted to a homophobic incident at one of his recent concerts, saying that he’s “really disappointed” that a venue in Canada told two female fans not to kiss each other during the show.

The former White Stripes frontman was performing at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada last Friday (November 2nd) when attendee Allyson MacIvor was asked by a member of the venue’s staff to stop kissing her friend, and apparently physically inserted himself between them. CBS reported this week that White was performing ‘Seven Nation Army’ when the incident took place.

“I embraced my girlfriend, and some staff member came in between us, and she said, ‘This is not allowed here’,” MacIvor recounted. “It was very violating and invasive. It’s not something I’d ever imagine experiencing, honestly.”

Jack White performing live in 2012

MacIvor added that the venue’s manager “apologised profusely” after the pair were escorted to them by the employee, and that they later received another apology from Oilers Entertainment Group, who organised the show. However, she said, “it still didn’t help the incident and the hurt that came out of this”.

Having caught wind of what took place, 43 year old White took to his Instagram account to condemn the venue. Captioning an image of two women kissing at a Beatles show in 1964, the guitarist and singer said: “Its 2018 now and two people expressing affection shouldn’t have to hide.”

At his following show in Calgary, White dedicated the song ‘Love Interruption’ to the pair, “and encouraged everyone in the crowd to kiss their loved ones… Let’s promote love and acceptance wherever and whenever we can.”

Since The White Stripes split up over a decade ago, Jack White has released three solo albums, the most recent of which was Boarding House Reach, released back in March this year.

Recently, a tenth anniversary vinyl re-issue for Consolers of the Lonely, the 2008 album from his side-project The Raconteurs, was announced.